So much for the for the 3-point threepeat.

Daequan Cook ended Jason Kapono’s two-year reign as the NBA’s best exhibition sharpshooter Saturday night. The Miami Heat guard needed overtime to do it, besting Orlando’s Rashard Lewis in a Foot Locker Three-Point Shootout that surprisingly lacked drama despite the extra session.

Cook set up a winner-take-all by rallying late to tie Lewis at 15 and eliminate Kapono during the three-man finals. Cook nailed the money ball to force another 60 seconds and five racks.

“I was actually doing the math as I was shooting,” Cook said. “When I got to the last rack, I knew I had to have all of them to at least stay in it to tie. It was going through my mind.”

Actually, it wasn’t that tough. He only needed to make the last four.

Once in the Shootout’s shootout, Cook had little trouble as the Orlando swingman couldn’t muster any magic. Lewis didn’t connect until the third rack and petered out with seven points. Cook, sensing the title his for the taking, had it wrapped up halfway through the round and coasted to 19 points.

“It was a tough win,” Cook said before adding, “I pulled it off tonight against some great competitors such as Jason Kapono.”

Kapono was back to make a run at Three-Point history. As the 2007 and ’08 champ, the Raptors’ long-range specialist was gunning to join Hall of Famer Larry Bird and Craig Hodges as the only players to win the contest three consecutive years.

In a sign of what was to come, the night didn’t start well for Kapono. He began slow in the first round and needed a late surge to slide into the finals. The same guy who tied Hodges’ single-round record of 25 last year managed a pedestrian 14 in the first set of the finals. But no one found a groove in the first round. Lewis led off and heated up as the round wore on to finish with 17. Cook was consistent throughout and put up 18.

Of the three that didn’t make the cut, Shootout rookies Danny Granger and Roger Mason appeared somewhat flustered and finished with only 13 points apiece. Nerves likely weren’t the issue with seasoned vet Mike Bibby, who tailed off late and scored 14.

(nba.com)

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